ASEAN - Indian Ocean Watch

Why the World Can’t Look Away from the Indian Ocean

To the casual observer, the Indian Ocean appears as a series of disconnected crises—a coup in an island nation, a drone strike in a shipping lane, or a new runway on a remote atoll. But for the strategist, these are not isolated events. They are “symptoms of the seam,” recurring flashpoints where the friction of

Who Cares About the Indian Ocean and Why: The Mandala of Interests

To the map-maker, the Indian Ocean is a vast blue expanse bounded by three continents. To the strategist, it is something entirely different: a “Mandala of Interests”—a complex, overlapping system where every actor views the water through a unique and often contradictory lens. While the world’s navies agree that trade must flow, they disagree profoundly

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